Taxation of benefits connected with posting of workers – judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court

 

The SAC invoked the EU laws on posting of workers (Directive 96/71/EC) to point out that both the value of tangible benefits from employers as well as reimbursement of expenses paid by posted workers on their own for travel, board and accommodation in connection with the work in another EU Member State are not treated as remuneration for work. Therefore, all such expenses are not treated as the workers' gain and should be borne by the employer who sends the workers from one EU Member State to another. Consequently, such expenses do not increase the workers' income.

 

This particular judgment is so important because the SAC used to consistently support taxation of such benefits for employees in its rulings since 2018. The judgment of August 2023 may mark a shift towards taxpayers along the interpretation line. An important novelty is the argumentation based on EU law, which never happened before. 

 

If you post workers abroad in the course of your business, contact our experts.